The bill, called "historic" by Finance Minister Yair Lapid, is very unlikely to pass due to Bayit Yehudi's veto power.

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The Yesh Atid bill would allow any two
people – regardless of sexual orientation or religion – to fill out a form in a
courthouse requesting that their civil union be recognized.

A civil union
is defined as “an agreement conducted according to this law to live together as
a couple and have a family life and joint household.”

Two people in a
civil union would fall under the same legal status as married people.

The
conditions for two people to have a civil union would be that they be 18 or
older and not relatives, married to another person or already married to each
other.

“This is a historic step in the civil revolution we’re leading,
and it cannot fall because of small-minded politics or a war on credit,” Finance
Minister Yair Lapid wrote on Facebook. Lapid added that the party’s goal is “to
allow every Israeli citizen – Jewish or not, gay or straight – to receive
recognition of his right to love from his country.”

“We have no interest
in provoking the religious establishment or other parties, and our religious
MKs, which include two rabbis [Education Minister Shai Piron and MK Dov Lipman]
were very involved in writing the bill,” the Yesh Atid leader
explained.

Calderon also emphasized that the bill “is not fighting
halachic marriage and does not enter the rabbinate’s territory,” and is “the
appropriate law for a sane and enlightened Jewish state.”

Despite Yesh
Atid’s insistence that they are not seeking to harm the rabbinate, Bayit Yehudi
came out against the bill, with a party spokesman saying that “matters of
religion and state will be dealt with by consensus and not through headlines in
the press.”

In fact, the coalition agreement says: “Changes of
legislation in matters of religion and state will happen by agreement by all
components of the coalition.”

As such, any party in the coalition may
veto any other party’s proposals on the topic.

Thus, the Yesh Atid bill
cannot be brought to a vote without it breaching the coalition
agreement.

“We proved in recent months that we are working for
proportionate changes in the sensitive issues of the country’s Jewish identity,
like supporting a longer daylight-saving time and the [Tzohar Bill] passed
yesterday,” the Bayit Yehudi spokesman added. “Any declaration of ‘revolutions’
that are not coordinated and agreed upon will get headlines for an hour but will
fall after two hours. On the other hand, anything reached through dialogue will
get Bayit Yehudi’s support and will bridge parts of the nation.”

A Bayit
Yehudi source expressed hope that the bill will not get to a point where the
party will exercise its veto and that Yesh Atid will open its doors to dialogue
on the issue. Most bills have a 45-day waiting period before reaching the
Ministerial Committee for Legislation, giving the parties plenty of time to talk
before civil unions are brought to a vote.

MK
Yoni Chetboun called the bill “a dangerous initiative that will lead to a
binational state made up of a Jewish nation and a civil nation.”

Chetboun
added that the proposal calls into question Bayit Yehudi’s previously close
partnership with Yesh Atid.

The Likud party is also unlikely to support a
civil union bill. Yisrael Beytenu has supported civil unions in the past, but a
party spokesman declined comment Tuesday.

Also highlighting strains in
the coalition, Hatnua faction chairman Meir Sheetrit pointed out that he
submitted a civil union bill earlier this year, which was rejected by the
Ministerial Committee for Legislation with the help of Yesh Atid’s votes against
it.

“You can’t block bills by another party in the ministerial committee
and then submit a similar one and make such declarations,” Sheetrit
stated.

Unlike Yesh Atid’s version of the civil union bill, Sheetrit’s
proposal would apply only to those who cannot be married by the rabbinate, such
as samesex couples or people of two different religions.

Sheetrit plans
to bring his bill back to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday,
long before Lavie and Calderon’s will be voted on.

“Freedom
of marriage in Israel will not exist as long as religion and state are not
separated,” Gal-On said. “Lapid’s stance, which opposes a separation of religion
and state, explains why Yesh Atid is hiding behind words like ‘civil union’
instead of promoting civil marriage and divorce in Israel. Meretz is the only
party today that supports separating religion and state.”

UTJ MK Ya’acov
Asher accused Lapid of proposing the civil unions bill because recent polls show
his party getting half of the 19 seats it has in the current
Knesset.

“The finance minister is looking for a way to escape the
situation he’s in, so once again he uses his old weapon and submits a bill he
knows won’t pass because the Bayit Yehudi won’t allow it. But it’s worth it for
him to have us discuss this bill, so that there will be fighting between
religious and secular people, and that smoke screen will lead the public to
forget his failures and how unprofessional he is,” Asher said.

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